Saturday, June 1, 2013

The scene:The
beginning of the workday at an architect’s studio somewhere along the rural
Pacific Coast. The seasoned old architect/mentor greets his protégé, a young
intern not long removed from architecture school.

A:Good morning,
Pond Weed.

I:Yeah, that’s
me.My middle name’s Elodea.

A:I’m
glad you’re continuing to get into the spirit of things…Any new thoughts

over
the holidays?You look like something’s on
your mind.

I:Well,
I’ve been reflecting about many of the things I’ve learned here and I guess

it’s affecting me
more deeply than I might have thought because last night I had a pretty bizarre
dream…

A:Dreams
can be pretty strange…

I:I
was coming up to this big multi-story modern metal and glass office
building.

It was in some kind
of office park with nice, contemporary landscaping – not the kind of thing you
would relate to – and I was coming for a job interview.So I enter the building and inside it’s all a
pine forest with needles covering the ground and a camp fire with a group of
old guys gathered around like they’re on a camping trip or something. They’re
wearing camping clothes and caps; it’s kinda crispy in there. One of them shouts
out and waves to me and it’s Malcolm Wells. The next thing I know I’m standing
around the fire talking with them– and it’s like this is actually part of my
interview. I’m somehow aware that the
others are guys like Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Joseph Esherick,…but then, if I
thought of somebody else he would just merge with and become one of the campers
– so really, I think I could have included just about anyone I wanted.

A:I
might have asked Christopher Wren about those two columns…

I:What’s that?

A:Oh, just a little sidebar.So, – go on– here you are standing around a campfire.

I:Yes, and so Malcolm Wells looks me
directly in the eye and snidely asks “Do you do green architecture?”I didn’t know just what to say, but after a
moment said “Of course.”And he
immediately asks, “Why didn’t you pick up the beer can on the walkway up to the
entry?”I got a lump in my throat and
was feeling very uneasy because I had seen the can and had momentarily wondered
if I should pick it up, but then I felt like I was here for an important
meeting – not to be policing the grounds.All I could think of was to say, “I’m sorry” and then Malcolm and the
others all started laughing…Walt Whitman starts speaking prose to nobody in
particular about how in his day people saw America as the great land of
opportunity and accomplishment…but that no matter how you define or describe it
culture is essentially just the pleasing of the senses.

A:(after a thoughtful pause) Is that all?

I:Well, the whole thing is just
crazy.At some point you merge into the
group and with this Napoleonic gesture announce “LIFE, not LEED, is the most
important resource.”

A:I’m impressed that I made it into your
dream – and that I had something insightful to say.Or, I guess it’s just the obvious.It seems a bit odd that we fret over physical
resources with little thought or concern given to biological resources.Suburban development and landscape design is
little more than outdoor flower arranging: and there is an overwhelming lack of
continuity. It’s mostly just visual gamesmanship.Of course, the car and paved streets and
highways are the biggest impediments to continuity and then there are the acres
of lifelessness it creates.By
continuity I mean the ability of plant and animal populations to move freely
about their home ranges.

I:You mean because they are liable to be
run over?Can’t all the paving be offset
with green roofs?

A:Run over, separated, isolated, …One of
the things I like aboutCradle to
Cradle is the statement that less bad is not good enough.In other words smaller footprints are not
going to solve the challenges we face.What
challenges? As for green roofs – I think it’s too bad they are usually
discontinuous from the ground.How will
they get used by the native flora and fauna?My rule of thumb is if it doesn’t accommodate gophers and gopher snakes
something must be wrong.Earth covered
roofs are at their best when they are ADA compliant – that’s “Animals Deserve
Access.”

I:Are you kidding?

A:A little bit.Every year more and more people live with
less and less resources – and less freedom.That’s why we continually get more and more controls – to protect the common
good.We can’t really see the future so
it is impossible to anticipate what chain of events will occur and lead us in this
or that direction and at some point I suppose we will move beyond our present
material requirements.I can imagine a
time when there will be no computers, no television, no automobiles…but unless
it’s the second coming almost all scenarios look pretty bleak to me – bleak at
least for poor old Mother Earth.The
choice is more resources and freedoms for less people or less resources and
freedoms for more people.

I:Well, I think people are more important than animals. You
can see from

the newspaper
that habitats are shrinking and entire species are being wiped out… except for
what’s left in zoos and animal parks. Natural selection I guess.

A:So how many more people do you think we need?

I:I’m sure we probably have enough, but if we don’t have more
people won’t that

hurt
the economy?You won’t get new buildings
to design.

A:I don’t see any easy answers.Hell, I don’t even see any hard answers.But you know it’s a really big step just to
see that all the rhetoric around us does not address the future…unless you
think the future is simply the day after tomorrow.

I:My days are filled up just trying to catch up with what
needs to get done in the

Office before I go home.

A:The answer you usually see is a side
step.Applaud an increase in efficiency or
a reduction in waste – but in no case extrapolate towards anything resembling a
conclusion. I expect the bottom line will be some kind of worldwide mandatory population
control.The first phase will eventually
be widespread acceptance of the conundrum and then government will probably work
towards stabilizing – and perhaps even reducing – population.Simultaneously they will need to stabilize –
and then reduce – economic growth.

I:And your point, I guess, is why not
preserve as much of the planet as we can now, like a savings account – so we
have something left for later?

A:Right now we’re using up our savings while
we proliferate more and more bodies, and....

I:So, do you think I could get a raise?

A:Maybe someday.Right
now I think the day is upon us – let’s get to work.

1 comment:

You will be thrilled to know your lighting design for the front yard made the gopher very happy. He just dug up into on of the up lights and stuffed it full of dirt, shorting out the whole string. The gopher snake is happy too because he was found twined around the handle of the barbecue this morning. Brilliant design.